TAUNTON — Taunton firefighters are standing by the side of a colleague as he remains in a Rhode Island Hospital after suffering severe neck and spinal injuries.

After falling from the roof of a three-story home last Tuesday, veteran Taunton firefighter Chad Larivee was flown to Rhode Island Hospital by MedFlight for emergency surgery. Larivee woke up the next morning with a firefighter sitting by his side, and the injured Taunton native has been kept company ever since by former colleagues who have organized shifts to make sure he is never at the hospital alone, according to a member of the Taunton Fire Department.

“We’ve had firefighters at the hospital by Chad’s side 24 hours a day since this happened,” said Taunton firefighter Tim O’Leary, who has known Larivee since they were kids growing up in the city. “We’ve had at least two guys at all times with him. … Guys are doing 12-hour overnight shifts at the trauma center there by Chad’s side. The reason we did that was so he wasn’t by himself at any time.”

Family members and others who are close to Larivee said that they don’t know the full extent and the implications of his injury.

Larivee, 43, who has three young children and a wife, has no mobility at this point and cannot speak, O’Leary said. But he is communicating non-verbally, O’Leary said. Larivee underwent a nine-hour surgery and remains in recovery.

O’Leary said that while they don’t know just how dramatically this will affect Larivee’s life – and they remain hopeful for his rehabilitation – he and others expect that the road to recovery will be long, difficult and costly. To help Larivee and his family deal with the tragic situation, they set up an online fundraiser that has already collected about $60,000, with a goal of reaching $250,000.

“We figured that we needed a way to help his family,” O’Leary said. “He’s a provider for his family. He works all the time. That’s his main goal. He’s a family guy. We just want to help him in any way we can when he’s in this situation. We thought the best way we could do that is a fundraiser.”

To donate to the fundraiser, contributors can go online to www.gofundme.com/ci2rmk.

Larivee, who grew in Taunton but now lives in Franklin, was doing private construction with a group of other off-duty firefighters at a home at 4 Wilmarth St. One neighbor said that staging set up on the roof slipped, causing Larivee to fall from the three-story building.

Page 2 of 2 - “I was scared for him,” O’Leary said. “Probably a dozen guys went to the hospital right after that. All of us are just kind of in disbelief.”

Eric Larivee, Chad’s oldest brother, said that his family is hoping for the best.

“It’s a long, long road ahead,” said Eric Larivee, who also thanked the firefighters for their outpouring of support. “We are all praying for small miracles. ... He’s in decent spirits. He’s a fighter.”

O’Leary described Larivee as a “tough” guy, and said that Larivee awoke from surgery the next morning, after doctors said it would take him several days to wake up after the procedure.

“Chad is a larger than life guy,” he said. “A rugged guy. A former college football player. He’s a tough guy. To see him laid up like that was … we were scared for him.”

When Larivee woke up at the hospital, firefighters told him they were sticking by his side, O’Leary said.

“We told him that,” O’Leary said. “So, at no point he’s been alone. We’ve actually had retirees, over a dozen, come in to do visits, too.”

O’Leary said that firefighters are now trying to plan a barbecue-style fundraiser to help raise additional funds for the Larivee family.

O’Leary said that the family appreciates how the firefighters have stood by Larivee at the hospital.

“They were in tears when they realized we weren’t leaving his side,” he said. “They do appreciate it. I told them before, ‘I’m sorry they do have to experience it, but this is what we do.’”